General news

Ok, a new post. Work has been very busy as of late, especially with our final term exams last week, as well as all the hectic preperations preceding our upcoming week off. Honestly, I can't wait to go away next week. I'm heading to Jordan with a good friend of mine, an Aussie named Bed. This is very exciting for me because I've always wanted to see the Middle East. So many people in the U.S. talk about the region as if they're experts, but the longer I'm here the more I realize most people back home have no idea. Yes, Istanbul is in Europe, but there are a number of conspicuous Middle Eastern elements that make Istanbul the unique city it is. Istanbul is a great launching pad for someone who wants to better understand the Middle East, and I see these next two years-actually, a year and eight months now-as a sort of prerequisite for what I hope could turn into a career in Middle East studies. I am pretty fickle when it comes to my future plans, so who knows if or when I'll change my mind. But Turkey and the Middle East, as well as all of the accompanying idiosyncracies, has captured my interest, and I plan to learn as much as possible.

Other news: its getting cold, its rainy, I might get a used couch soon, the Turkish lessons are coming ok-peaks and valleys, as they say. I tend to assess my overall happiness on a numerical scale every three days or so. Tonight I give it a...7. But that's a positive assessment, and it typically flirts around 5 or 6. Why so low? I work too damn much. A solution will come.